The holiday travel crowds at Los Angeles International Airport will be even bigger this year, with passenger volume expected to be 8.2% higher than last year, the airport said.

From Friday until Jan. 2, 2.6 million passengers are expected to fly in and out of LAX, compared to 2.4 million in the same period last year. LAX is the sixth-busiest airport in the world and the third-busiest in the U.S.

The busiest days in the 14-day holiday travel period will be Friday, Saturday, Thursday, Dec. 27, Dec. 29 and Jan. 2. On each of these days, nearly 200,000 travelers will file through the airport. The least busiest days will be Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

The increase, according to travel experts, is the result of more available seats added by airlines flying bigger planes.

Making travel through LAX even tougher will be ongoing construction of a $4.1-billion modernization program, particularly in the late-evening and early-morning hours, airport officials said.